I know this post may cause some controversy. Please no arguing.
I want to know what each persons thoughts are.
What do you believe in? Do you you believe in God? Buddha? Allah?
Personally, I am a christian. But I feel as if my faith is slipping.
I ask why does God let people feel depression? Why does God let people hurt one another?
Why does God let innocent people die?
But then again, the Devil is the one who does all evil.
I used to be a devoted Christian. I have a bible, I DO believe. However I feel as if God is not there when I need him the most.
I don’t want to doubt God. I want to know if he really cares and if he is there.
Share your thoughts on what you believe in. I am curious to know what others feel about this topic of beliefs/faith.
26 comments
Just out of curiosity, who taught you Christianity? Was it a parish, or your parents? It sounds like you may not have read the bible before? (not a criticism in any way, just a question).
I think the devil appears like, 2 times max in the bible. And most of the horrors that humanity faces in biblical stories are caused by ywhw.
I grew up around some family who were very religious, my parents not so much. I have read bits and pieces of the Bible, but not all the way through.
I believe we’ve created a fairy tale illusion of a deity that cares about us, and that fairy tale takes the form of all the world’s religions, which WE humans need to instill meaning in our lives. Look around at life. What you see is what we were given, by whoever gave it, and it operates as it was designed to operate. It is all things – good, bad, suffering, death, joy sadness. It simply is, in its only form. We need to divine our origin, purpose and destiny, but life just goes on with or without us. Seeking “god” is not pointless, the search adds meaning for many, but understanding that the life we all endure includes negativity and ultimately death, is vital. Hoping for deliverance from a kind, benevolent “god”, well, that’s a waste of time. Ask six million “god” fearing Jewish citizens who cried out to “god” for deliverance during the Holocaust, which “god” sat and watched.
God not answering your prayers proves that he does not exist? No. It disproves the egocentric notion that a divine being would take a concentrated interest in coddling every individual on the planet.
If there is a god, he didn’t create humans to coddle them and hold their hand through their lives. He created humans to pass this test. All the time we spend in pain we are experiencing now is nothing compared to the vastness of infinity.
Couldn’t agree more, nobody. Very well said.
Thank you for re-stating my point – while humans suffer, “god” sits and watches.
The way you’ve worded it makes you seem to have bottled resentment for this ‘God’, or the fact that he doesn’t exist, which is now directed at the concept of God itself.
As for people who are angry at God, what I always tell them is that they need to expand their mind, and that God is nothing but a manifestation of their ego and that they are angry at themselves, not ‘God’.
The order of the universe is life, suffering, death. Wherever this order originated, why it originated, (for discussions sake, call it god) it is an accepted order, just not by the majority of humans, too many of whom look to god for deliverance, when there is no deliverance to be had, (reference to the suffering of the victims of the Holocaust who believed god had formed a covenant exclusively with them to deliver them from suffering) outside of random luck. I foolishly expected god to deliver me for years, so yes, there is resentment directed at myself for believing deliverance would be forthcoming from a caring god. When I realized that my suffering, misery and death are as much a part of being alive as my happiness and joy are, then the true nature of the god I was seeking deliverance from became obvious to me as being nothing more than wishful thinking. The order of the universe dictates that I could suffer just as easily as I could prosper, and noone would really care less. A truly enlightened follower of religions would, in my opinion, acknowledge that while “god” is love, he will also sit idly by while you are tortured and suffer, without blaming this on a fallen angel (aka Satan).
I have no doubt (also no proof) that a god exists. My simple mind tells me that the universe could not have popped into existence without a plan or design of some sort. To believe otherwise, to not see the intelligence so blatantly displayed in every aspect of creation is sheer folly, but some insist this is all random. That intelligence, the driving force that designed a system that has over the millenia built itself, is “god”. As humans seeking purpose, we have assigned god a benevolent nature in the stories we create defining him. I personally believe we have no clue as to the exact nature of the origin of all and it’s designer, but we create fairy tales that assign a benevolent nature to it, which confuses us when life takes a giant shit on us because god was ” supposed to care.” Not sure where you’re becoming confused, but you’re certainly not understanding what is a simple concept – we suffer, we flourish within the constraints of the universe as dictated by its designer, and there will be no deliverance “from on high.” Hopefully that will sink in.
Chip, you seem to be hung up on this. As for my comment below, I don’t know if it’s simply because one cannot denote inflection through text on the internet, or because you genuinely don’t understand humor and sarcasm. Either way, I see it was over your head… ;:/
I was careful not to make any assumptions about you having a shallow perspective, because I always thought you were smarter than that, but you proved me wrong.
My point in the comment was that the non religious can do the same things that the religious do and make the same mistakes despite not being religious. It was sarcasm.
I’ve implied that I’m atheistic in my comments, I just didn’t want to dignify that little tit fir tat with words, it was irrelevant to the subject.
My point was about the true nature of that which we call God itself. The concept is not as shallow as you’d like to think. If you read about the christian religion you will come to understand the meaning behind it all, that accordingly, Satan is now the ruler of Earth, that the suffering he causes is temporary and impermanent, and that the goal of humankind is to seek God and benevolence in the face of this storm, and the humans that pass this test will reign in heaven with God for all of eternity, the humans that do not pass this test will not suffer in hell but will cease to exist. The relationship that God has crafted between humankind is a relationship of true love. The humans that are the most pure and wise, who follow his path to the light without needing an overt amount of guidance, are the ones who he will love the most, as they walk in his light. If you can’t understand the principles behind that story, I feel bad for you for being so angry.
Do I personally believe in it? No. I think they’re all wrong. But I encourage that type of free thinking.
. . . while you undoubtedly are unclear on a concept that is painfully obvious, but that’s ok. You’ll grow up someday. Perhaps a job would help, less time spent in mommy’s basement dwelling on arcane and trivial theories and concepts? Give it thought, Icarus – try getting a life and producing. 😉
No, my friend, I understand the concept more than you. You’ll never understand something that has perplexed people for millennia with such a static thought process. You don’t get it, that’s fine. I don’t know what happened to you. You can stay close minded if you want. Enjoy your ignorance.
DOUBT ” god.” Its healthy and wise.
I don’t understand, where did Chip go? Are you Chip’s little brother?
Calm yourself brother Chip, for the dawn of a new age is upon us. The charlatans who revel in their piety will be exposed, and hark, we shall reign supreme!
(See how that works? A wolf in sheep’s clothing. It goes both ways.)
. . . and the new age begins. . . when, exactly? Is this the same new age that civilizations have been expecting for time immemorial? When will the mentality of man experience the promised transformation that has eluded us? Yet more wishful thinking!
Perhaps when you put down your comic books and see life from a slightly more adult, productive perspective you’ll have a realistic concept of the “dawning of a new age”, or the obvious fact that as long as man is man, ain’t nothing gonna change, kid!
Your problem, my friend, is that you are taking everything literally.
I don’t personally believe in deities. I used to be more open to things like that, but I suppose I’ve become more science-minded in recent years.
I actually miss the days when I could genuinely believe that there was more to life than meets the eye.
I think mythology can be a great way to pass on wisdom from generation to generation through exciting stories.
I am obviously less excited about some people (who take everything literally) using religion as an excuse for hurting others.
I’m a Christian. My faith isn’t always strong, but the problem of evil (the question “if God exists, then why do bad things happen/people suffer?”) never really bothered me. I don’t see why people expect God to make our lives perfect. No offense to anyone who struggles with that question.
Well spoken there wiskered-fish. God exists, and for now, so does evil and with almost free reign from what I can see. But only for a limited time. Thanks for your comment.
No problem. Thank you for yours.
I’m a Christian. I frequently have my doubts and approximately 10 million questions, but at the end of the day, I always have a belief. I have some personal family experiences that are too “different” to be described as a natural occurrence when a person is nearing death. I also believe that I have, once in awhile, been presented with… evidence that someone out there is listening to me and is knowing what I feel and think. As for the question of why does God let people suffer, I believe it’s to make us turn to God. If we were billionaires and lived with no problems, we wouldn’t turn to God to ask for help. Then, if we live our whole lives without worry or sadness and we don’t turn to God, then you go to Hell. I don’t know. Those are my thoughts.
I believe that whatever doesn’t kill you, simply makes you… stranger.
Hehehe 🙂
I have faith in the way that I let go, and dont hold onto any doctrines or a deity up in heaven.
I take ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism.
I feel like we are the universe. We are not separate from the “external world” around us. We are a part of it, and our bodies are vessels that let us experience life, consciously.
We are It. God. Playing these games. Trying to find meaning.
I can be a tad bit nihilistic. But I still see the beauty of life
Thank you everyone for your thoughts on this, I like hearing what others think about certain things.
Maybe all life on Earth is a giant reality TV show for God.
God’s been chilling in space for millions of years. One day he gets bored, so he thinks “how can I entertain myself”. So he creates humans, animals, and everything else. He says “do your thing. I’m gonna sit here, munch on some popcorn and watch you all compete, disagree, suffer, fight, love, and wonder if your pitiful existence has any meaning”.
God can do whatever he wants, but He needs pets to entertain him. (It gets lonely in space, ya know, even for dieties).